Leendertz family

1957 Article

Leendertz, an old Mennonite family which emigrated at the end of the 16th century from the Palatinate, Germany, to Kleve in the Lower Rhine territory. The first representative of this family found at Kleve was Pieter Leendertz (1609-1683) whose son was Leendert Leendertz (d. 1691 at Kleve) who was married to Billeken Wilms. A son of Leendert Leendertz, Willem Leendertz, was a preacher of the Mennonite congregation of Kleve 1720-ca. 1745 (Naamlijst 1731); he may be identical with Willem Leendertz, who (Inv. Arch Amst. II, No. 2580) is said to have been voorlezer (reader) of that congregation and resigned in 1743 because of old age and illness.

In the early 17th century some members of this family moved to Rees, where Jan Leendertz became the ancestor of the Rhineland branch of the Leendertz family, which still exists. Harmen Leendertz, a son of Jan Leendertz, was a preacher of the congregation at Rees 1707-ca.1740 ([[Naamlijst der tegenwoordig in dienst zijnde predikanten der Mennoniten in de Vereenigde Nederlanden|Naamlijst]] 1731). Other members of the family in the 18th century moved to Emmerich and to the Netherlands, especially to Nijmegen and Haarlem. At Nijmegen Willem Leendertz (1721-1810), who had come from Kleve about 1738, was at first a baker and then a merchant. In 1757-1810 he was a deacon of the Mennonite congregation (DB 1875, 80 f.). He was married in 1750 to Elisabeth van Eger, a daughter of Petrus van Eger, preacher of the Nijmegen Mennonite congregation, and remarried twice; he had 17 children.

In the Netherlands a large number of members of this family were Mennonite preachers, all trained at the Amsterdam Mennonite Seminary.

Cornelis Leendertz (born 31 July 1784, at Nijmegen, died 7 June 1857 at Amsterdam), married to Antje Rotgans, served at Zuidveen 1808-1810, Steenwijkerwold 1810-1814, and Zaandam-West 1814-1854. He published Leerrede bij de herdenking van mijn 25 jarige Predikdienst (Amsterdam, 1839) and together with his co-preacher B. van Geuns, Leerredenen (n.p., 1841). He also published some poems. His son Jacobus Leendertz (born 30 January 1809 at Zuidveen, died 5 June 1877 at Leer), was married to Engelina Mesdag of Groningen and served at Mensingeweer 1832-1837, and Leer, Germany, 1837-1877. A son of this Jacobus Leendertz was Cornelis Leendertz (born 7 May 1843, at Leer, died 23 December 1928) at Middelstum, pastor of Staveren 1866-1873, Zwartsluis 1873-1875, Noordhorn 1875-1898, and Middelstum 1898-1908. Mennonite ministers were also Pieter Leendertz (1817-1880) and Abraham Cornelis Leendertz (born 4 November 1822 at Kampen, died 25 December 1899 at Kleve), serving at Kleve 1850-1895, whose son Willem Isaac Leendertz and grandsons Willem Leendertz (1883-1970) and Johannes Matthias Leendertz (1885-1977) were Mennonite ministers, as were two other sons of Abraham Cornelis Leendertz, one of whom was also called Abraham Cornelis Leendertz, and Cornelis Abraham Leendertz (born 19 October 1861, at Kleve, died 1 May 1939 at Norden), serving the congregation of Norden, Germany, 1889-1931.

Whether Jan Leendertz, about 1650 a Mennonite preacher at Zutphen, Dutch province of Gelderland (DB 1881, 46), belonged to this Leendertz family could not be ascertained. Tjepke Leendertz, d. 1816, preacher of Ameland from 1767, apparently did not. -- Nanne van der Zijpp

1959 Supplemental Article

Willem Leendertz (b. 1883) was pastor at Nes 1909-1922, obtained the Th.D. degree in 1913 with a dissertation on Sören Kierkegaard published at Amsterdam in 1913. From 1946 to 1953 he was professor at the Amsterdam University and at the Mennonite Seminary, where he had been lecturer since 1934. His field was philosophy, ethics, and dogmatics. He wrote numerous scholarly books and articles. His brother Joannes Mathias (b. 1885) was pastor at Wieringen 1910-1923, Koog-Zaandijk 1923-1927, and Haarlem 1927-1950. He served for many years on the executive committee of the Dutch Mennonite Mission Association, was among the founders in 1917 of the Gemeentedag movement, and an early and active member of the Dutch Mennonite peace group.

Bibliography

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 626.

Nederlandsche Patriciaat 19 (1930): 120-142, 290 f.

Niepoth, W. Zur Geschichte des Geschlechts Leendertz in Rees. 1941.

Stammbaum der Familie Leendertz, bearb. von Kommerzienrat Friedrich August Leendertz. N.p., 1907.

Author(s)	Nanne van der Zijpp
Date Published	1959

Cite This Article

MLA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Leendertz family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Leendertz_family&oldid=145694.

APA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Leendertz family. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Leendertz_family&oldid=145694.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 305-306; vol. 4, p. 1101. All rights reserved.

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